Das goldene Zeitalter des Grotesken
by LancerMonna and Mozartz-Ballad
Summary: DARK FIC: Is it friendship, love, or loyalty that will give Yuugi the strength to save Ryou from a world of madness? One book holds the key. WARNING: Yaoi, Adult Language, AU, Angst, Gore, Psychological, Implied sexual content, Death, Tea Bashing
1. Einleitung zum Ersten Akt Makaber

Einleitung zum Ersten Akt - Makaber*

What is a diary? 

Everyone has their own meaning, their own perception. But by society's definition, it's a blank book dated for the recording of important events or transactions. A guardian of secrets if you will. But in this case, it's a curator of deep, dark, deadly secrets of a little boy who only wanted to make his mother happy. 

"What harm will come from one harmless lie?" 

What if that one little white lie lead to several and from several, thousands. From within the pages of one boy's diary lays not the memoirs of toys, school, falling in love or anything of that nature. It told of his painful memories of a family's death. How could one little white lie cause so much bloodshed? As horrible as it may seam, one has to question, was it really suicide? Or was it really murder? The book of secrets has fallen into unforeseen hands. And as the sands of time slowly trickle by, the naïve boy now barely an adult finds himself facing those forgotten lies. What will he do? Will he let history repeat itself? 

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Now dear reader, are you prepared for what's about to occur? We hope so for the curator of secrets will now unfold.

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:o_||~*~*~*~Note~*~*~*~||_o:

Einleitung zum Ersten Akt - Makaber - Prelude to Act One - Macabre  
  



	2. Kleine, weiße Lügen Little

1/28/04

Updated Version: 1/30/04 Updated German Translation and summary. We both apologize to at all German readers for reading the pervious version. m(_ _)m We hope that this is a better version.

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~~ Introduction ~~

Hey, this is Lancer Monna and Mozartz_Ballad!

This fic took a while to create but we are very proud of the results!

As for the title well, . . .the reason is because, we made Ryou German for this fic and plus we wanted to do something different. We don't want to give too much away so we are hoping that we have given enough information to keep you interested in this series.

Now then on to the disclaimer.

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Disclaimer: Lancer Monna or Mozartz_Ballad do not own or have rights to the characters from Yu-Gi-Oh! They unfortunately belong to their owners especially Takahashi Kazuki. However, they do have the ability to use the characters in anyway that they choose. They also, however, own any of the original characters mention herein. Thank You.

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WARNING: Yaoi, Adult Language, Angst, AU, Gore, Psychological, Implied sexual content, Death, Tea bashing

Author's Note: This chapter has 3rd P.O.V. and the characters may or will be OOC whichever comes first. Also be aware that there may be a few sentences that contain curse words. And before we forget:

~*~*~*~ = _Change of scene_

. . . =_ Character thoughts_

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Now on to the fic! (^-^)

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**_Das goldene Zeitalter des Grotesken_**

Chapter 1 - Kleine, weiße Lügen_ - _Little White Lies

Low melodic sounds of a lone viola filled the attic near the crake of dawn. The sound echoed off the walls with the slow creeping of first light into the minute yet quaint space, as Yuugi rehearsed his solo for the winter concert for the hundredth time that week.

Concerto for Viola d'Amore in D major. 

The air was slightly frigid as fingers rapidly worked the fingerboard of the medium sized instrument resting comfortably against the crook of the petit player's neck. He stood there perfectly poised in the middle of the attic with nothing around him, playing every note from memory. Yet his mind continued to wander, remembering passages from a book that he found himself staying up late reading for two days now. 

Wohin ist Mammi gegangen? Warum hat sie sich verändert? Mammi ist nicht mehr Mammi. Sie ist   
weggegangen und jetzt ist sie eine neue Mammi. I hab meine erste Mammi wirklich sehr, sehr lieb gehabt.[1]

"YUUGI!"

The teen abruptly lifted his bow from the C string, completely startled by the sudden outburst. "Ji-chan! You nearly scared me half to death." Yuugi's grandfather pulled himself up into the attic, looking at his grandson with concern.

"Is something wrong Yuugi?" His grandson arched an eyebrow. "You've been playing the same measure for fifteen minutes." Sugoroku's lips pulled into a small smile, his eyes softening with concern. "Is something troubling you my boy?" Yuugi shook his head. "Are you sure?" At first Yuugi looked like he wanted to tell him something, but changed his mind.

"I'm fine Ji-chan. Probably having butterflies about the concert that's all." 

His grandfather sighed in relief. "Your mother's been calling for you for awhile now. Breakfast is ready. Hurry up and eat before it gets cold." The old man lightly slapped his grandson playfully on the shoulder as the teen began to claim downstairs. "Oh, Yuugi! I'll be downstairs in the parlor when you're ready for me to drive you to school." He called down from the top of the attic stairs. 

"Okay!" Yuugi ran to the fourth floor of their six story townhouse following the lovely smell of breakfast that his mother was diligently making. "Morning mom." he called sliding into his usual chair. His mother smiled setting down his plate, kissing him on the cheek.

"Did you sleep well?" She asked as she poured apple juice into her son's glass. 

Yuugi nodded biting into his egg toast, then frowned looking around the kitchen. "Where's dad?" 

His mother sat down at the table across from him flipping through the morning's paper. "Downstairs tending to customers in the music shop. And don't forget to change into your new school uniform." She could easily sense the disapproving frown forming on Yuugi's face as she poured herself some coffee. "And don't start with me young man." She held up a parchment with the school's letterhead and symbol embossed in gold.

St. Jeanne Da Arc Catholic School

555 Blessington Avenue

To the parents of:

Yuugi Mutou

We at the St. Jeanne Da Arc Catholic School, hope that everyone had a joyous and safe holiday season. We also wish to remind you that, as mentioned at the end of the pervious semester, all returning students are to be dressed according to the new dress code that has taken affect over the Christmas holidays. We ask that all parents have their children prepared for the new semester by acquiring the following items at the places mentioned:

1. Male uniform for both fall and spring semesters by Uniforms R Us.

2. One large Mailman leather book bag in black by Gothem Unlimited

3. Textbooks (Which can be purchased at The Jeanne Da Arc Catholic Bookstore):

A. Introduction to Advanced Bio Chemistry by Samuel Walden and Lisa Brown

B. The Wonderful world of Calculus by Victoria White

C. Advanced Techniques in Music Theory by William Green

The Works of Vivaldi, Bach, and Brahms arranged by Kim Jang Hoon

D. British and American Literature from the 1700's by Rupert Blackman

E. The Holy Bible - the Centennial Addition

F. Intermediate Manga Theory by Kazuki Takahashi

G. World History at It's Finest by Edward Finch

H. Archery set following the qualifications to the International Archer's League

Yuugi's eyes twitched at the godly titles his professors demanded that he study from. [[The Wonderful World of Calculus?! World History at It's - who makes up these stupid titles anyways. And why do we need a new version of the bible? Isn't the ninety-ninth edition just as good?]] He sighed in defeat. "Fine, but I still don't see the point in wearing uniforms in the first place." He grumbled eating his orange. "It's the middle of the school year."

"The beginning of the new semester." His mother corrected. She quickly pointed to him, then the stairs. "Get going." She sipped at her coffee. "And stop stomping on the stairs. The wood is-"

"-as old as grandpa so treat it with dignity and respect, and while we're on the subject respect your elders." Yugi mimicked mockingly in his mother's voice on the way up to his room. His mother couldn't help but smile against the rip of her cup. "Smart-aleck."

**__**

.::.~.::.~.::.~.::.~.::.

Yuugi opened his bedroom door stopping dead in his tracks. "This can't be-." 

**__**

.::.~.::.~.::.~.::.~.::.

Sakura, heard her son barreling down the stairs to the kitchen a few minutes later completely dressed in his new uniform. She looked up from her newspaper with arched eyebrows. 

"Mom, this can't be my uniform!!" Yuugi nearly yelled holding out his arms so that his mom got a good view of the outfit. The jacket was modeled after a trench coat made in black material which flared out from the waist and fastened on the left side. The front pocket had the symbol of the school with white and red trim all around the edge of the coat, cuffs and pocket. The flaps of the coat were cut at an angle so that you could see the long white shirt tails of his button down dress shirt which lay underneath the V cut wine red sweater vest. He wore boot cut solid black slacks that cuffed at the ankle, black boots with two inch soles at the toe and two and a half inches at the heel, and a black tie. "It's too cool to be a uniform. But to say that it's mine is just unreal."

His mother nodded. "But it suits you." She walked around him, every so often smoothing out various wrinkles on the fabric. "Trust me, it's a lot better than what the other students are wearing. That's why I especially picked this out for you." Yuugi blushed kissing his mom briskly on the cheek. "Your book bag is downstairs with Grandpa, and make sure to pick out a viola from the store." 

Yuugi's shoulder's sagged. "Mom, do you think that I will **_ever_** get a viola of my own." His mom sighed heavily. "You know your father, 'I haven't found the perfect wood to make-"

"- the right instrument for Yuugi. I can't just give him any viola, I need to make him the perfect one.'" Yuugi shook his head in defeat. "I've been asking him for twelve years now." He heard his grandfather calling for him from the downstairs stairwell. "Coming Grandpa." He smiled weakly at his mother before running downstairs to the music shop on the second floor. 

His mother sat at the coffee table with her forehead resting on top of her interlaced fingers. Her eyes glanced over at the window. With a heavy heart she slouched backwards looking up at the sealing. "I know you mean well my love, but when will you ever learn . . ."

**__**

There's no such thing as perfect.

:o||~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~||o:

The sky was slightly grayish and the winds were a bit choppy on this chilly winter morning. Sugoroku drove the back roads hard in his sleek, black 1939 Cadillac 7523 limo, being extra careful of up-turned roots and scurrying forest animals. 

Yuugi secretly thanked god that his mother picked this warm uniform for him while he sat in the backseat reading his book. One of his grandfather's hobbies was rebuilding old fashioned classic cars from the junk yard; unfortunately the heating system that his grandfather ordered hadn't arrived yet, but everything else was in pristine working order. 

The teen sat calmly reading the passages of the book. His eyes, however, told a different story. They were as wide as saucers, and spelled fear and shock all over them. His hands began to shake as he numbly turned the delicate pages of the book, which in reality was really a diary. A diary of a close friend. A diary of a troubled little boy. 

__

She was very kind and sweet. She held me close to keep me safe and warm and tucked me in at night to read bedtime stories. I felt so safe in mommy's arms. 

But, now I have a new mommy. She's even more loving and kind to me. But should all mommies be too loving to their children? 

She makes me feel different from all of the other kids, she kisses and touches me in secret places. At school, I heard that when a stranger does this then it's wrong. I told mommy and she says that as long as it's her than everything is fine because this is her special way to show her special man how much she loves him. But the teachers say that it's wrong. And mommy and daddy always say that I should listen to my teachers and do as I am told. So is what mommy's doing really wrong? 

How is a mommy **really** like? Do all mommies act this way? I want to ask daddy but mommy says I shouldn't, because then he won't let us play together at night anymore and then mommy would be sad. 

I don't want mommy to be sad. I won't tell daddy.

Yuugi closed his eyes and prayed to the Lord above that this was a work of fiction; a work of fantasy and not reality. But the more he read each entry, the more he realized that it was in fact real. Very much real. So real that it made his stomach lurch.

**__**

This is the diary of his closest friend - the diary of Ryou Bakura

"Yuugi . . . are you getting out? We're at school you know." 

Yuugi's eyes snapped open, completely oblivious to the world around him outside of his grandfather's car as he focused on his worried face. "We're here already?" Holding the book between his opened palms, Yuugi closed the diary, stuffing it into his book bag. 

"If you don't want to go to school today I can understand. You're mom and I have been worried about you since your breakup with Tea on New Year's Eve."

The name of his ex-girlfriend unconsciously slipped past his lips in a soft whisper; his heart ached, and his hands shook slightly at the painful memory.

:o||~*~*~*~New Year's Eve~*~*~*~||o:

"Here it is, the moment that we've all been waiting for-" Yuugi smiled affectionately holding his girlfriend Tea Garner. He sat on the window seat with his girlfriend sitting comfortably in between his legs; her head nestled in the crook of his neck, his chin resting comfortably in her hair. They sat away from all the townsfolk that came to celebrate at the Mutou townhouse. All activity stopped as everyone turned to Grandpa Mutou counting down the New Year. 

"5, . . ." The crowd chanted.

"I love you Tea." Yuugi whispered into her hair. He could feel her breath dancing lightly against his heated neck. 

"I, . ." She felt Yuugi's lips planting a kiss against her forehead, then her cheek. She looked at him warmly, her lips hovering lightly on his. She saw his eyes flutter closed, his face looked even more angelic than ever. "I, . . .we're breaking up. I don't want to be your girlfriend anymore." 

" . . .1, . . .Happy New Year!!" The crowd cheered setting off their horns and noise makers. A group began singing under Sakura Mutou's lead. "Should auld acquaintance be forgot, and never brought to mind? Should auld acquaintance be forgot, And auld lang syne?"

Everyone was merry, dancing about, kissing loved ones and celebrating; everyone that is, except for Yuugi.

Tea smiled feeling his muscles around her tighten in shock. "I've never loved you Yuugi. Never have and never will." Tea looked smugly into Yuugi's shocked face. "I couldn't force myself to say those three little words to you any longer. 'I love you.' Don't make me laugh! It sickens me to think that you would actually think that I would ever love you. You're nothing more than a useless little boy trying to act like a man."

Yuugi with all the strength that he could muster refused to let her see him cry even though that was what he was really doing on the inside. "Why didn't you do this earlier."

Tea chuckled. "Because it made the break up all the sweeter. You will never love anyone else completely like me. Here's too the New Year." She kissed him on the cheek. "May you forever remember me as the woman that broke your pathetic little heart." Yuugi's eye's widened as Tea's lips planted firmly on his like venom. He pulled away nearly jumping off of the window seat. "Fucking whore." He breathed wiping his mouth vigorously with his sleeve.

"Ah, but remember it was you who fucked me first brat." She took up her champagne glass, sighing blissfully. Then sing from the rim of her glass, "and we'll tak a right guid-willie waught,For auld lang syne!"  


:o||~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~||o:

"You okay Yuugi?"

Yuugi could only smile at the gentleness of his Grandfather's voice. At least he could count on the fact that his grandfather's feelings towards him were real. He really did have such a loving family. "I'm fine Ji-chan. I'll see you after school?"

His grandfather smiled waving goodbye to his grandson. "Have fun kiddo." 

Yuugi opened the door of the car, stepping out into the frigid morning air. He stepped onto the crosswalk, merging in with the other returning students passing the opened gothic iron gates . As he looked around, he realized that his school uniform was completely different from most of the other students which in his opinion looked really dopey. 

"Hey Yuugi." He looked up to see his senior, Ryuji Otogi coming towards him in the same uniform that he was wearing, except his had a dice chain loosely wrapped around his waist and a white vest. "How was vacation?" He asked as they gave each other a high five.

Yuugi couldn't bring himself to look his friend in the eye. "I'd rather not talk about it, but uh, why are our uniforms different from everyone else's?"

His friend looked at Yuugi as if he had two heads. "You don't know?!" Yuugi shook his head. "It's to signify that we're honor students. And only a select few at that were able to get these uniforms. You have to be a student with high marks and do extracurricular activates after school as well . . . .or something like that. Anyway, it's really an honor." To say that Yuugi wasn't shocked would be an understatement. "But I have to get going, oh and don't forget we have an Archery Club meeting at lunch today." Otogi called over his shoulder as he ran down the walk. "Don't be late."

"What are you talking about, I have my watch right here," the teen patted his necktie and gasped loudly. His rabbit pocket watch wasn't secured to his tie. He paled miserably realizing that, "I must have left it at Ryou's house. . . .again" 

He ran to the front entrance of the main church hall were most of the returning students had gathered looking for his friend. "I wonder were Ryou is?" He entered the massive cathedral hall squinting his eyes as he scanned the mass of students tinted by the dark shadows and various colors from the rose windows that lined the hall. He finally spotted him happily chatting to his classmates sitting around a curved marble corner stairwell slightly hidden from view. Yuugi smiled at the fact that he was wearing a similar outfit as him, except his outfit had a jacket in the same motif as Yuugi's trench coat which was sharply cut in an angle in the center showing off his red V cut vest, his long white dress shirttails and long skirt that reached mid shin. The skirt had a wide split on the side that was tied with black string revealing the same pants underneath as Yuugi's with the same boots. Ryou simply looked stunning and so happy. There's just no way that the book that he was reading was really his best friend's diary.

Yuugi's grip tightened around the handle of his book bag till his knuckles turned white. "I can't bring myself to face him." His head hurt so badly. If this book really was Ryou's diary, if he were to ever found out that he had read something so secret about his friend, Ryou would never forgive him. Closing his eyes, the tri-colored teen forced his way through the packed crowd of students as the church's iron bells tolled at the clock tower signaling the start of the first day of classes. The teen was completely unaware to Ryou looking at him, calling his name.

He walked to his locker, spinning the dial around without much thought. He felt someone watching him making the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. From the corner of his eye, he saw the silhouette of his former girlfriend looking at him.

"Hey Yuugi." She called sweetly. 

"Tea." 

He rolled his eyes. It wasn't that he was trying to be sore about the whole thing, he just simply wished to ignore her. He gathered his books for his morning classes and shut his locker door spinning the dial harder than usual. He pulled the book bag strap over his neck, letting the bag rest comfortably against his hip. "Nice outfit." He said getting a good look at Tea's nun like school robes. 

"For your information," she hissed putting her fist against her hips. "This is the official 'Elite' honor student robes." Her groupie friends that normally cheered everything that Tea ever said cringed. 

"Obviously you have been told wrong my dear." Mai Kujaku called from down the hall wearing the same outfit as Ryou except her skirt didn't have a split in it at all. It flared out slightly above the knees in a wrap like fashion making her appear as if she were floating on the floor and her coat was the same as Yuugi's while her vest was white like her boyfriend Otogi's. "What Yuugi and I are wearing, are the official 'Elite' honor student uniforms." Mai smiled pointing to the school symbol stitched carefully in red, black and white shiny thread with the fancy letter 'E' embroidered in gold for all to see. She smiled pointing to Tea, "what you are wearing my dear, are common everyday student robes." She smirked. "Nice outfit, too bad that it still doesn't suit you."

Tea's face flashed with anger at Mai's spiteful remarks. How dare they treat her like common filth. Her eyes darted at Yuugi for support but found none. He looked at her coolly for a moment then turned his back to her. "You're a big girl, deal with it yourself."

"You're just still sore about New Year's." She could see the slight stiffening of Yuugi's shoulders. "I can't believe that you're still acting like such a spoiled little brat. I bet you cried yourself to sleep like a sniveling little baby." Everyone in the hall, except for Mai, laughed pointing their fingers at Yuugi. "I bet you cried calling for your '_Mommy_' and '_Grandpa_'." Tea mocking held fists to her face pretending to pout and cry.

Yuugi stopped walking, not believing what he was hearing. He knew that his ex was an all out bitch, but he never knew that she could be spiteful too. It's one thing to pick on him, but another to make fun of his family. He turned back to Tea keeping a smile on his face. Before he could even control himself his hand had a mind of its own, lashing out to strike at her.

"YUUGI!!!" At the sound of Mai's voice, Yuugi's hand stopped barely touching Tea's cheek. His ex, who was at first scared, smirked wickedly in triumph.

"See what I mean, what kind of _man_ would want to hit a defenseless woman." She called out for everyone to hear. "None. That's why you will always be a little boy. Yuugi." Yuugi's eyes flashed flickering crimson red with purple as he was tempted to follow through with his slap. Mai grabbed his arm before he hit Tea for real.

"As much as I would love for you to slap the hell out of her, and I know she damn well deserves it; you must remember Yuugi, that you are far better. Let it go."

Tea smirked hiding behind her entourage of followers. She waited until they were slightly out of earshot before she said, " did I forget to mention where Yuugi got his sex technique from?" The crowd hushed to hear what her answer was. "From his hentai DVDs and from his _mommy_!" She laughed coldly along with her friends and the crowd around her. "Oops, I'm sorry, that was suppose to be a secret right?"

Yuugi frowned deeply at Tea's comment and high pitched laughter. He walked back to her reaching in his book bag pulling out a small brown paper bag. "Well then Tea. Since we've officially broken up, I believe that it's only fair that I give back what rightfully belongs to you right?" With the coldest eyes that Tea had even seen on her ex's face, Yuugi disgustingly tossed the bag at her. She took her time pulling out the one item the bag contained and unraveled it for everyone to see. Her eyes went wide eye in embarrassment. It was her white cotton stained panties. Everyone in the hall laughed so hard.

"How dare you give me someone else's underwear, and _used_ for that matter." She hissed angrily. She watched Yuugi's eyes widen in shock, folding his arms over his chest. 

"But Tea they _are_ yours. You're the first and only female that I've ever let into my room besides my mother and even _she_ wouldn't have to go around putting her name on her underwear. I mean come on Tea, only children do that when they keep loosing theirs." Tea's face paled "Oops, I'm sorry, that was suppose to be a secret, right?" Yuugi mocked over the loud snickering. She could hear someone yelling, "Oh my god, it is true. She does put her name on her underwear;" and the whole hall erupted in laughter.

With a satisfied smirk, Yuugi left Tea seeing red while zigzagging his way through the mass of students to his first class, World History. She ran after her ex ready to slap the living shit out of him. Mai, however was much faster, jumping in front of Tea's way then in one fluid motion kneed her knocking the 'nun' to the floor. Tea groaned groggily trying to regain herself. 

"That's for embarrassing and hurting Yuugi New Year's and today." Mai growled out between clinched teeth. "You make me ill just looking at you, slut. The next time I see you making any passes on Otogi," Tea eyes shrunk with fear seeing Mai's nails which looked sharper and pointer than ever; the blonde's eyes looked feline. "I'll skin you alive."

:o||~*~*~*~*~*~*~||o:

Yuugi opened the old creaking wood and iron door to his afternoon class, Bio Chemistry. Oh how he loathed that class and had dreaded coming to it for hours. He sat at his usual chair that he always picked, the last seat of the row closest to the window. He liked it most since no one really bothered him much. 

He had a little over a half hour left over from lunch to do practically anything that he wanted. And for some particular reason Ryou's diary was somehow compelling him to read. He sat the book in his lap and flipped it open to no page in particular. He couldn't help but feel drawn to it. His eyes scanned down the handwritten lines and began to read paragraphs of a slightly older yet mysterious Ryou:

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Entry 140

I don't understand. Why was Zelig so upset? After that night he found mother and I, he tried to tell his parents. So, does this mean how my mother loves me is in fact wrong? I'm so confused. Over and over he tried to tell them and became upset when no one believed him. Why is he making the situation such a big deal? His parents asked my parents about it, and they both said that it was nothing. That it was Zelig's imagination. Worse part was they had to ask me with Zelig glaring at me with those eyes "Tell them! Tell them that I'm not crazy" However, with me being so confused and still loving my mother so much; if what she is doing to me is bad, I don't want her to get in trouble or hurt. I answered that nothing happened. "Zelig made it all up. Zelig lied as usual." Zelig was so angry at me but why was he in tears? Shouldn't I be the one in tears? It doesn't matter anymore. What is the harm in one little white lie?

Entry 159

Where is Zelig? Where is he? I haven't seen him after his parents comforted mine. Is he still that upset with me? I try to call him, visit him, look everywhere for him. But, I can't find him. I miss him so much! Where is he? Please don't hate me. If I lied, I'm sorry. I'm sorry! I want him to come back. He's the only friend I have in this town. I pray to god to bring him back every night. It's been 2 weeks. Where is he? I'm so scared and lonely. I fear that I have made a bad mistake when I lied that night. Someone tell me, have I done something wrong? It was only one little lie, one little white lie. No harm will come of it right? Please let no harm come from it. I just wanted my mother to be happy. I will make it up to you. Zelig, please come back, . . . I miss you.

Entry 186

It appears that my tragedies and traumas reflect onto others like a vile curse. The mental hospital said nothing was wrong with Zelig. His mental state was normal. Why did he kill himself like that then? Did he hate me that much? Did he never want to see me again? Or did my trauma reflect to him in a different way. It's like he didn't want to see the truth anymore, just as I block out the detailed memories of my mother's love. 'Admit that you lied,' everyone kept yelling at him. But I know and Mother knows that he really did tell the truth. Did you really loath me that much, Zelig? Did you despise me so much that you had to erase yourself from existence? But what about your parents? They still loved you Zelig. They loved you so much that they decided to join you. Your mother, since you were her only child and since she could no longer give birth to another, killed herself just like you had. She wrote in her blood that it was penance for her betrayal to her only child. 

Yuugi cried out muffling his mouth with his intertwined fingers. He did not want to believe that this was true. His eyes bulged in fear, he forced one of his hands to turn the page as his eyes began to water, his mouth quivered. He gulped loudly forcing the bale back down his throat. His stomach continued to remain queasy as he read on:

Your father suffered from a broken heart and died of loneliness. He was ill; he could not sleep, drink nor eat. And still my mother shows no remorse for my sorrow and pain of loosing my best friend and family. Do I even deserve to call you my friend? After all I have done was drive you into insanity and death because you wanted to help me. My father sees my distress, but my mother, . . . She acts as if she ignores my painful feelings. I realize now that she only cares for her own needs. My mother . . . is a selfish mother. She brings poison to me and others. I'm scared. But, I have no where to run. I am trapped in this viper pit with no may out, because she is my mother, . . .the only mother that I have ever know and have grown to slowly hate.

Yuugi forced the diary closed, his heart lurched for the fallen family. His fingers could feel the diary bulge slightly. He reopened it desperately trying to close it again, his eyes happen to come across a German newspaper clipping describing briefly of the dead mother's death. The picture showed the mother's dead corpse laying on the floor face down with 'this is penance for my betrayal to my only child, Zelig,' written in her blood with her blood soaked fingers.Yuugi couldn't take it anymore, he wrenched his eyes away looking outside to the tree bending slightly to the unforgiving winds. "Innocent people are dead because of one little white lie." Yuugi whispered softly into his open palm. Tears began to fall down his cheeks. [[Ryou, what have you and your mother done.]]

The only thing that he was able do was stare out and look at the bending tree fighting against nature. As the wind picked up, a black cat sat calmly on the outstretched limb as if it were a calm Sunday afternoon outing in the park. The scene was very ironic, everything around it was bending and twisting unnaturally, while the cat sat poised looking back at Yuugi. Yuugi blinked his eyes.

"What's the cat looking back at me for?" He looked at it again and sure enough, the teen continued to watch the cat looking back at him. His eyes softened as he watched the cat smile. And as the cat's smile grew wider and wider so did Yuugi's eyes. The cat's grin grew so wide that it was completely unnatural in size, nearly splitting the cat's head in half. Yuugi felt himself moving backwards in fear as he watched the cats teeth grow sharp and pointy, mocking him as it clinked together in a menacing taunt that he couldn't hear. The teen felt a sudden shake on his shoulder making him nearly jump out of his skin. "You alright?" He heard someone close ask. Purple eyes found themselves looking into warm chocolate.

"Oh, it's only you Ryou." Yuugi breathed in relief. "Don't scare me like that." Ryou tilted his head to the side arching his eyebrow in confusion. "You see that cat on the branch outside the window?"

"You mean the one sitting beside the ravens?" Yuugi nodded making Ryou in turn frown. "But Yuugi, there are no ravens outside, it's too windy." Yuugi looked again and did not see the cat nor the birds, just mother nature reeking havoc. [[Was it just my imagination?]] 

"Yuugi, . . . Are you sure you're okay? You haven't been acting like yourself today." Yuugi nodded his head more for his own assurance than anything else. "By the way. The other day when you can to my house; my mother gave you a bag full of books remember?" Yuugi nodded again. "Did you happen to find a black, leather, hard cover book with a gray and gold spine in the stack?" Yuugi took his time answering shaking his head. "Alright if you do find it, just don't read it okay." He frowned when Yuugi looked away from him. "Alright. You've not been yourself at **_all_** today. Spill. What's wrong." He crossed his arms across his chest, halfway sitting on Yuugi's desk. "Come on you can tell me."

Air escaped Yuugi's lips, he slouched down into his creaking chair slightly peeved. "You mean that thing with Tea this morning?" Ryou nodded. "I'd rather not say." Ryou was completely surprised by Yuugi's sudden change of behavior. 

"Since when have we ever kept secrets from each other Yuugi?" Ryou asked searching Yuugi's face. That one question made Yuugi snap.

"I don't know Ryou, you tell me." The white haired teen was completely taken aback by his best friend's harshness. 

"And what's that suppose to mean?"

"You tell me, since you love to keep secrets all the time, Ryou." The white haired teen flinched backing away from Yuugi's desk; his eyes widened at the sound of his name hissed out like a distasteful word coming from Yuugi's lips. To say that he was beyond hurt was a horrible untruth. He was devastated.

"What's with you?" Ryou breathed, his voice scarcely a whisper. The teacher tapped her long pointing stick at the chalk board signaling for class to begin. As it turned out, Ryou ended up sitting on the opposite side of the room much to Yuugi's gratitude. He felt bad for his earlier treatment to Ryou, but he just couldn't figure out what came over him all of a sudden. He couldn't think, nor focus on the lecture at hand. He found himself opening the book again:

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Entry 171

I would have never thought my mother's kisses of love could turn into poison. For a few years now, I've always wondered what happened to Zelig. I think about him still. But.....oh god...my chest hurts so badly just thinking about it. I want to throw up again! Its hurts everywhere. WHY??? Why did your parents take you to a mental institute? Was it because of me?? Was it because I lied? If I knew then what I know now, . . . I wish that I could turn back the hands of time and say that I'm sorry. But it's too late isn't it? Why did you do it? Why did you kill yourself in such a horrible way??? Using the only tool that you could find, a spoon Zelig! A SPOON!!! 

Yuugi could see and feel the splatter marks of Ryou's tears on the open pages making some of the sentences slightly illegible. A nearby student passed him a note with Ryou's handwriting on it saying, _'Why won't you talk to me? What did I do to make you mad?'_ Yuugi picked up his pen and scribbled down, _'It's what you didn't do that's made me mad.'_ He then passed it back to the other student before he read:

__

  
I will forever member that day as if it were yesterday. The day that I forced you to take your life. It was on my birthday that you died. It was the first time that I had seen you in years. I was so happy to hear from you. Your parents and my family watched you from the TV at the mental institute. You looked so pale and sickly. Then you asked for me to tell the truth, if I valued our friendship; if I even cared for the bond that we used to have, you asked me to finally confess to my sins. But I couldn't, because I wanted my mother's happiness. So I lied like always.

What harm could only one small, little white lie do?

You cursed at me, blaming me for sending you to this hellish prison. Not your parents, not my parents, but me, and me alone. You called me a traitor, a coward and said that I truly lived up to the name 'Mother Fucker." You screamed that you wished for me to live in hell for the rest of my pathetic life. Then you smiled saying that you couldn't take living in the psychotic world any longer. That you didn't want to live in a world full of bigots and liars.

We all watched you laugh as you dug your eyes out one by one with the spoon. Then you thrust the spoon into your neck ripping out your vocal chords. I watched my best friend die in front of my eyes and the only thing that I could do was smile. Those tears of blood mimic the tears that flow from my eyes as I write this. But no matter how much I wish for things to be different, the end result will always be the same. WHY ZELIG??!?!!? Was it me?? Was it because I lied?? Is it really wrong how my mother loves me?? Tell me please!!! Why did you take your life??? Is it too late for me to say sorry? Should I even be able to ask for your forgiveness? I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry. 

  
Why doesn't my mother show any remorse? Why mother? Why do you not greave? Why isn't she even sad for Zelig's death? Mother why?? Why don't you feel anything? Don't you feel any shame? Or did you wanted this to happen? 

It's as if, you aren't the same as dad and I . . .you aren't human are you? Or is it that I'm not human either.

Yuugi forced the diary closed sliding it into his book bag. [[Did you have to let Zelig die just to keep your mother happy Ryou?]] He stared out the window to the world outside of his classroom looking for someway to regain his lost sanity. Claustrophobia quickly settled into his psyche as it became congested; vividly visualizing Zelig lodging the spoon into both of his eyes and throat with Ryou smiling in the background. Out of desperation, the tri-haired teen tried to repress the bale crawling its way up his throat.

With his eyes wandering back to the tree, he saw the black cat from earlier staring back at him with a raven perched beside it. Yuugi's purple eyes widened, his irises shrinking into small dots as the cat's paw revealed long hideous claws that latched onto the bird. Then the cat opened his large gargantuan mouth devouring the head and shoulders of the helpless animal rather wolfishly. Blood and gusts whipped about every which way. The teen could see the blood pouring from the cat's mouth as he quickly devoured the once feathered creature grinning from ear to ear, showing his sharp pointy teeth now stained with blood, guts, and matted feathers. 

Yuugi's eyes rolled towards the back of his head. He felt light headed, pulling the waste basket towards himself. Students cried out as Yuugi heaved into it.

"Oh lord, poor thing must have the flu that's been going around." The teacher said in sympathy handing him a wet towel to whip his face with once his stomach settled. "Oh, may God have mercy on this poor boy's soul, and deliver him to the path of righteousness. May he-" 

"Um, . . . Can I _please_ go to the nurses office before I _die_ Sister Ann?"

"Oh, . . .right!" She stopped waving her cross around and hurried back to her desk. "Take this pass and see the nurse immediately. Can someone please escort Yuugi?" Ryou immediately jumped at the chance. Yuugi groaned loudly, muttering "why bother," under his breath taking the pass from the teacher's hand. 

The white haired teen ran after Yuugi to catch up with him. Something wasn't right. It was as if Yuugi couldn't stomach looking at him anymore. "Yuugi, why are you so mad?! Why won't you tell me? What did I not do to piss you off so much?" 

Yuugi whirled around; angry purple met worried chocolate. "How could you do it Ryou?" He hissed glaring at his friend.

"What are you talking abo-"

"If someone that you loved suddenly hated me so much that they wanted to kill me, would you let them?" 

Ryou's eyes widened. "NO!! I would never le. . ." His face completely paled till it was literarily chalk white. "You, you, you read my diary, didn't you?"

"No, Ryou. I never read your precious little diary." He spat back. "But even that would be another little white lie wouldn't it." Yuugi watched Ryou's irises shrink, tears rolling down his cheeks. "So all this time, . . .our friendship, our trust; everything that we based our bond on, was nothing more than a lie." Ryou couldn't speak, nothing would come out of his mouth. "Come on Ryou, at least say that our friendship was something. Give me one truth." The white haired teen still couldn't speak. "I'll even take one of your infamous lies."

"You said that you never read it." Ryou whimpered in between sobs.

"I thought you would be use to lies Ryou. You've told so many that it's finally catching up to you. How long? How long were you going to lie to me? How many more white lies were you going to tell before someone else got hurt." Ryou pleaded with his eyes for forgiveness. 

"When were you going to tell me that your mother wanted me dead?" Yuugi demanded in tears pulling Ryou's diary out from his book bag showing his white haired classmate the diary entries.

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Entry 240

God I beg you to take me away now! Please, no more of this prison! I can't take it anymore!   
I had forgotten that day I had accidentally forgotten to close the door when Yuugi and I first kissed. My mother had seen Yuugi and I with our lips softly touching. After the kiss it made me realize even more that my mother's love was wrong. That there was someone out there who could make me feel safe and warm and show me true love. That night with those thoughts dancing in my head while my mother was having her way with me, I tried to push her away for the first time, telling her to leave me alone that I don't want this anymore. This angered her. So much so, that she gave me this wicked grin that scared me. The way she looked at me was insane. My eyes stung as tears escaped from behind my lashes. My heart sunk to my stomach as my mother whispered that if I didn't continue, that she will make sure Yuugi will share the same fate as Zelig. God no!! Anything but that!! Not Yuugi! God Not Yuugi!!!! Why mother??? Why must you be so heartless? So cold?? Leave Yuugi alone! I don't want him to end up like Zelig. I don't want Yuugi to hate me! Please, let me out of this nightmare!! This prison!! I want to run away with Yuugi somewhere to escape this life! 

Please, I beg you, I beseech you; give me salvation!

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Entry 300

My mother gave me an ultimatum this morning. Either I break up my friendship with Yuugi now or he would suffer the same fate as Zelig. I don't know what to do anymore. Yuugi is everything to me. She even said that she would go so far as to tell Yuugi the truth about our secret. I cried, because she's my mother, the only one that I have known, good or bad, blood is thicker than water right? But, if he were to find out about my sinful past; if Yuugi were to come in between the relationship that I have with her, I wouldn't know what to do. I just want everyone to be happy. So if it meant killing my best friend again to make her happy, . .so be it.

Ryou's eyes widened. "I never wrote that Yuugi I swear!" He fell on his knees crying hysterically. "You have to believe me!"

Yuugi stood there in tears watching his friend cry. He couldn't tell fact from fiction anymore, his mind was too twisted. "When will you ever tell me the truth Ryou," Ryou looked up Yuugi silently pleading for mercy. ". . .when I'm six feet under?" Ryou simply kneeled there unmoving as if Yuugi had shot a invisible bullet into his heart. 

The purple eyed teen couldn't take it anymore, Ryou's silence was all the answer he needed. [[If it came down to it, Ryou would want me dead just like Zelig just to please his precious mother. My best friend, . . . is a selfish friend.]] He tossed Ryou's diary along with the hall pass back to the white-haired teen, then went to the nurse's office leaving Ryou Bakura alone, in the hallway, unaware of the twisted smile spreading across Ryou's lowered face, . . . 

**__**

Just like on the day Zelig died.

:o||~*~*~*~*~*~*~||o:

Thankfully, the nurse didn't diagnose Yuugi with any illnesses, just that he lacked sleep and had an upset stomach. She decided that it was best to let Yuugi go home early for the rest of the day. He walked out onto the crosswalk, the winds pushing him along towards the visitor's parking lot where his grandfather waited. As he neared the iron gates, he stopped seeing the cat again from earlier perched on top lazily looking down at him. Yuugi gulped saying in a voice that even to his own ears sounded weak, "I'm not crazy." He knew that the cat was real and not a figment of his imagination. The cat looked back at him saying,:

**__**

"Ah, but tis not you who is crazy, tis you who is mad."

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):( ):( : ~*~=~*~=~*~=~*~ : ):( ):(

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:o||~*~*~*~_Bis zum nächsten Mal (Until Next Time)_~*~*~*~||o:

:o_|_|_~*~*~*~Notes~*~*~*~||_o:

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We can probably guess that a lot of you may be thinking that Yuugi would never do something like that to Ryou right? Well, we gave it a lot of though and I, Lancer Monna, wrote several different versions of the last scene with Yuugi and Ryou, but with everything that Yuugi went through: the bitter break up and finding out that his friend's mother wants him dead, I eventually was satisfied with the final product. So, I hope that everyone can understand.

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Concerto for Viola d'Amore by Vivaldi Antonio - Mozartz_Ballad: This is very hard to play but a beautiful piece to listen to. We highly recommend that you find a mp3 file for this. **Lancer Monna: I personally play the cello so I really wouldn't know where to begin about playing this piece in real life, -_-;;_ but I have a vague idea with the Vivaldi pieces that I've played. _**

German Translations for the first Diary entry:

[1] _Where has mommy gone? Why has she changed? Mommy is not mommy anymore. She went away and is now a new mommy. I really, really loved my first mommy._

We would again like to take this time to thank both , ACIDFLOWER/ACIDBURN and Kanika for their help in translating Ryou's diary entry into German for us. We tried so hard to use the German translator for the other german phrases that we used, but failed miserably. **;.;** We want to thank Kanika again for the rest of the German translations found in the series. Anyway, thanks a million times. We both appreciate you guys doing this for us. **^-^**.

Anyway, the chapter is done, but we have more in store for you.

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:o||~*~*~*~Kaiba Corp Studios~*~*~*~||o:

Lancer Monna: _And CUT!! Thats a wrap! Great job everybody. _*Turns around in her director's chair to the viewer.* _That's about it for the first chapter. _*Waves goodbye to Yuugi but the teen insisted that he got a hug before he went home. Lancer gave him a warm huge then she did the same for Ryou.* _Thanks a lot guys; drive home safely. Where was I, . . .oh yes. I would like to take this time to introduce my partner in crime. Mozartz_Ballad. She's very new to the fanfic writing department and I couldn't help not wanting to help create and write this fic when she told me her ideas. The story was too irresistible to pass up._

Mozartz_Ballad: _HAHAHAHAH THATS RIGHT ITS ALL ME!!!! ME!!!! @_@ ITS MINE!!!!! MINE I TELL YOU!!!! MY IDEA!!! _ *Everyone in the stage area looked at Mozart as if she where insane.* 

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Lancer Monna: o.O;; _Uh, . . . if you have any ideas on where this fanfic may lead or who the cat could possibly be let us know. We're interested on who you think it is. If you can catch on to what we're doing than that's cool too, let us know anyway. Try to see if you can guess where the story will go next. If not, then hold on to your seats because the fun is only beginning in this dark and twisted tale of murder and intrigue. _O.O;; _Uh, hey Mozartz_Ballad, am I giving away too much info here? _

Mozartz_Ballad: *strapped a straight jacket with chains around Lancer's body and shackled her feet to stick out in the open. She then took off Lancer's shoes and socks, gagged her mouth and smeared syrup on her feet. She whistles loudly and just like she predicted a rabid horse came to eat the syrup* _Yep! I think you have. _^^

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Lancer Monna: *wiggled around on the floor like a worm being chased by the horse. She finally found a way to un-gag her mouth.* _GET IT OFF ME!!! GET IT OFF ME!!!_

Mozartz_Ballad: -_-;; _Nah, anyway on a serious note, _*Completely ignored her friend's plea for help as she sat in her director's chair.* _Yes it's my first time writing a fanfic. *Takes a sip of her coffee* Finally, with me being in Japan at this time, _*she waved good bye to Mai and Otogi* _I don't have a lot of work like I did at my college. And with so many ideas I have in mind. Thanks to my friend Lancer Monna, *_She smiled at the sound of Lancer's distress and laughed when she said _"And NOW she calls me a friend. The fucker!! Just wait till I kick your ass, BITCH!!!!* Awww! I love you too. Now where was I, . . .oh yeah, we are able to bring life to the fanfic with a lot of dark imagination. I will later try to work on my own fanfics when I get more ideas._

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Lancer Monna: *Came back with her clothes shredded, panting heavily after barely escaping the horse* _WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT!!!!! YOU TRYING TO KILL ME OR SOMETHING!!!_

Mozartz_Ballad: *She looked at Lancer in shock* _Kill?! Oh no, no, no. Tis only but a medival torture device. _*she smirked wickedly.* 

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Lancer Monna: *she glared at Mozart.* _A simple 'no' would have sufficed thank you very much! _

Mazartz_Ballad: *She patted sympathetically on Lancer's back.* ^^ _But it was a lot more fun._

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Lancer Monna: _Fun?! _*Her eye twitched as the only sign of warning. She took Mozart by the neck and tossed her into a room full of man eating rats.* _No my dear, this, **THIS**_ _is fun. _*She laughed loudly at the sound of Mozart screaming in both fright and pain stomping on as many rats as she could.* _Kick those legs Mozart. _*She laughed mischievously at the woman's screams of pain.* _And now, dear viewer, I am delighted to bring you the final act for your viewing pleasure. We give you, 'Eat at Joe's . . . in B flat!' _*She heard muttering from the cast and crew.* _What? _*Looks down at script.* _No, I'm sorry I was mistaken. That's for next time right? _*The production assistant nodded.* _So we now give you. _*looks at the script again.* _Rudolf._*Looks over at the producer.* _But Christmas has been over for a while now. _*They both shrug their shoulders.* _Oh well. Wait. Am I forgetting something? _*pauses for a bit with the screams of Mozart and high pitched squeaking rats ringing throughout the stage area.* _Oh well. Lights, Camera and Action!_

**__**

The Die prachtvolle Ära von groteskem **Team proudly presents**

Yakamashii 

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Episode 1

"Rudolf"

**__**

Which is being brought to you by:

Easy-go-Cushion "The best, easy and relaxing way to fuck your partner. Guaranteed!! But if you still want a refund, you won't get your money back."

This episode features: **Insector Haga **a.k.a. **_Weevil Underwood _**as himself

It was such a lovely day in the small, peaceful town up in the mountains of Germany. Children were playing, and the birds were singing merrily. "Run away, run away!!!" The villagers all looked up from what they were doing as the town's messenger came barreling down the mountain in a snowmobile. "Rudolph's escaped! Run for your lives." Panicked cries filled the frigid air as everyone quickly ran to cover; fighting their way down the snowy mountain - all except for one teenager.  
  
"HA! What are you people worrying about you bunch of pansies. It's just a reindeer. I'm not running for shit." Insector Haga sat down Indian style on in the snow crossing his arms over his chest. "He still owes me presents from Santa. I'm going no fucking where!!" He opened his canteen drinking the warm liquid inside. "I wonder if its going to bring me a stronger card for my insect deck." His eyes then bulged widely. "Or better yet, I really hope that it's Tea raped up in a nice green bow." He chuckled to himself imagining naughty images in his head. He then felt heavy breaking on his neck. He gulped seeing a large shadow on the snow in front of him. Turning his head slightly, he found himself face to face with a giant wolf two times his height looking back at him, snarling its teeth with drool falling heavily from him mouth. Haga gulped backing himself against a wooden fence. 

  
"AAHHHHHHHHHHHH" 

The villagers, settled comfortably inside their warm houses, heard the green haired teen cry out as he looked for safety but paid him no mind. 

"DAMN IT!! WHY DIDN'T SOMEONE SAY "RUN AWAY!! GIANT MAN EATTING WOLF ON THE LOOSE!!!" He ran for his life hiding behind a thick patch of bushes. He took out his English-German dictionary flipping quickly to the 'w' section. "Wolf, wolf, there it is." He saw beside the German translation that Rudolph is an old German name for wolf still used to this day. "Oh that's just damn fucking peachy." He growled out under his breath. Unfortunately the wolf found him anyway and ate him. His cries of pain where left unnoticed by the villagers nestled safely in their beds.   
  
_Moral of today's story: **Run like an ass, when you see a group of terrified people running for their lives; especially when you are a foreigner. Chances are, you get more presents that way.**_

Rudolf was found the next day suffering from food poisoning. 

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Moral #2: **Even on extreme circumstances, eating bugs can still be harmful. **-_-;; **_Poor Rudolf, . . . Poor, poor Rudolf._**

**__**

This episode of Yakamashi was sponsored by:

Sofa king. "Because our products are 'Sofa King' great!!"

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Lancer Monna: _Night everyone! See you next time. _*She waves goodbye to the production crew as she headed for her Jeep Wrangler. Once inside she started the engine.* _We really need new sponsors. I'll just have to deal with that tomorrow. But, am I forgetting someone? _*looked around the parking lot seeing that there are no cars at all.* _Oh well, time for bed._* She cranked up her cd player and drove off like a mad woman to the freeway. As she's drove off Mozartz_Ballad saw the tail lights of Lancer Monna's jeep. She had gotten a ride with Lancer to work this morning and now she is stuck at the studio out in the boonies.

Mozartz_Ballad: _* _I'LL HAVE MY REVENGE!!!_

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Moral #3: **Never bite the hand that feeds you.**

:o|| Until next time, safe reading. ||o:


	3. The Darkness Within

_ Introduction  
  
Hey, this is Lancer Monna and MozartzBallad!  
  
Sorry for the long wait, but both of us needed to regroup in order to make this fic work and plus we wanted a darker fic so we hope that the direction that we're taking is the right one. Anyway, we are continuing this series so please bare with us. Thanks  
  
Disclaimer: Lancer Monna or MozartzBallad do not own or have rights to the characters from Yu-Gi-Oh! They unfortunately belong to their owners especially Takahashi Kazuki. However, they do have the ability to use the characters in anyway that they choose. They also, however, own any of the original characters mention herein. Thank You.  
  
_

_**WARNING: Yaoi, Adult Language, Angst, AU, Gore, Psychological, Implied sexual content, Death, Tea bashing**_

_  
Author's Note: This chapter has 3rd P.O.V. and the characters may or will be OOC whichever comes first. Also be aware that there may be a few sentences that contain curse words. _

_Now on to the fic! _-

* * *

**_Das goldene Zeitalter des Grotesken (The Golden Age of Grotesque)_**

Chapter 2 : The Darkness Within

"Can't, fall, asleep. . ."

Heavily drooped lids twitched on their own accord as a young man sat drooped over his desk with his head sagging forward in weariness. He was trying to study from his opened text book; however, his efforts would be in vain. His deprived body yearned for sleep, in fact, it craved it. But in spite of all this, his mind and rapidly beating heart remained driven, determinedly focused on one goal:

"Can't, . . . fall-" Body giving out, his head banged hard against the oak wood desk, his vision blurring for the fourth time that night.

On numerous attempts for the past three nights, he had tried to sleep, but whenever he drifted off, visions of his murder kept popping into his head. Each and every dream was completely different from the last. At times, he was killed by decapitation, or drowning; other times he was hung, and yet, each time as his vision faded to black and his last breath passed through his dying lips, a young man would always be there looking at him, eagerly watching and waiting for him to meet his maker. The purple-eyed teen shivered uncontrollably while pulling his knees against his chest, resting his feet against the edge of his chair. He couldn't help himself and felt powerless as he continued to rock back and forth. The sudden rattling of garbage tins and the creaking of old rusted gates outside his bedroom window nearly gave him a heart attack.

For you see, there was a creepiness about the sounds that were made at night, an eeriness that frightened the teen tremendously. Especially the shadows which had their own peculiar way about spooking him. All of them, somehow or another, connected back to his. Each silhouette contorted itself, elongating and warping themselves into the blades and countless bodies of the grim reapers. The teen watched as the forms moved along the walls and lurked in the darkened corners of his bedroom laughing at him, mocking him. They were plotting against him, waiting for the right time to strike when the teen least expected it.

The creepy noises of the tree limbs as they scratched along the windows added to his already present turmoil. Sometimes the scratches were faint: a soft tapping against the windowpane; a light rustling of the leaves as the wind blew past; a minor scrape of the limbs on the glass here and there. But there were other times where the noises were disturbingly earsplitting, almost as if the trees were scratching their nails crudely against the glass on purpose. As if they were banging their arms, pounding angrily against the roof tops which matched the pounding of his rapidly beating heart.

A cold chill trickled down his spine as he frantically scratched the raised goose bumps crawling about his skin. The abrupt slamming of the window shutters forced a shriek past of his pale tinted lips. He lost his balance and he and the chair toppled backwards onto the creaking hardwood floor.

The groaning of the attic beams and the scrapping sounds of nails scurrying about behind the walls of his bedroom only added fuel to his rapidly growing hysteria. Scrambling onto his feet, the teen quickly righted the chair and squatted on the seat trembling in fear. He eyes darted about, peeking out from behind the barred frames of the back of his chair. He frantically looked around the room in a quest to find the source of his uneasiness only to have the shutters slam again. He scrambled to the foot of his bed hastily yanking the quilt over him like a cat clawing on the side of its favorite couch. He curled into a tight trembling ball willing himself to stay awake.

* * *

"Yuugi? Honey? . . .You don't look so well. . ."

Sugoroku looked up from his morning paper at his daughter-in-law's distressed whimper. His grandson's eyes were terribly blood shot with dark circles underneath; his skin was pale and drenched with sweat and his hands shook, twitching every so often. "My word, has he come down with the flu?" He moved from his chair towards his grandson reaching out to place the back of his hand against his forehead, but, Yuugi jerked backwards in fear.

Sugoroku frowned at his response. "It's as if he's seen a ghost." He whispered. He made an attempt to check his grandson's forehead again only to have Yuugi jump back yelping loudly as he pushed himself flush against the kitchen wall.

"I'm calling a doctor." Sakura knew in the back of her mind that something was very wrong as she rushed to the phone attached to the opposite wall. She just couldn't put her finger on it.. "Ah yes, I'm calling because I need to be seen immediately, . . .it's not me, it's my son."

Meanwhile, Sugoroku went to the cupboard and began making tea. He really wasn't too keen on taking medication, but he knew a thing or two when it came to calming nerves. He plopped the tea bag into the cup and poured the hot water in.

". . .hum, hold on please. Yuugi? I need for you to tell the nurse what's wrong." His mother said placing the phone gently to his ear.

"H, he, hello?"

"Hello Yuugi. This is Nurse Wendy from Doctor Taylor's office. I need for you to tell me what's bothering you."

At first he was hesitant. His eyes darted about the room looking a way out of the room. In his mind he wanted to run away, but couldn't; his body remained frozen to the chair. He watched as his grandfather placed the hot cup delicately in his hands, and his fingers start to curl around the curve of the cup one finger at a time. "I'm having these weird dreams." He began with the quivering of his voice matching the trembling of his hands with the hot water sloshing around the rim. "And when I wake up, I get pains all over." Both his mother and grandfather freaked as he broke the cup with his bare hands. "I feel cold at times, then, there are times when I feel like there is something crawling around inside of me." The shards cut into his flesh, embedding into his skin with the mixture of tea and blood dripping down his palms.

"What just happened? Yuu-"

The teen looked at his hands then at his grandfather who was frantically trying his best to pull out the shards. But Yuugi didn't feel any of it. No pain, no anger, sorrow or malice. It was as if he were watching a movie of himself.

"Hey, tell me...am I sleepwalking?" He asked in a faint whisper. Both his mother and grandfather look at him alarmed. "I hope not." He lips curve up slightly. "I don't wanna dream anymore."

Sakura immediately grabbed the phone and placed it to her ear as tears began to form in her eyes. "He just broke the coffee cup with his hands! My father is treating his wounds the best that he can. I really don't know what else to do."

"I'm afraid that we won't be able to treat your son's condition here Mrs. Mutou." She said after a long pause. "But what you can do for Yuugi is get a damp clean dish towel and insert it in his throat-"

"I don't know, if I-"

"Mrs. Mutou!!!" Nurse Wendy interrupted, "you need to do as I am instructing you to do before your son either bites or chokes on his tongue. And I highly suggest that you do this quickly."

"Moooorrrrn-." Yasu, Yuugi's father stopped dead in his tracks at the sight before him. "What's going on? What the hell happened in here?!"

"I don't know, but I'm just doing like the nurse said." Sakura cried frantically rushing to the cupboard. Under the nurses instructions, she told both men to hold Yuugi down as she struggled to get his mouth open then forced the cloth into his throat. "Now what do we do?" She cried out as Yuugi began to violently trash about kicking his mother's leg and flailing his arms about hitting his father and grandpa. "Ow! Yuugi stop it!"

"What's happening?"

"He's gone crazy!! He's violently kicking and punching us. "

"You are going to have to bind his arms and legs so that he doesn't hurt himself or endanger you any further." The mother rushes out of the room to find something strong enough. When she returned she found both her husband and her father-in-law desperately struggling to restrain Yuugi.

"Did you find anything, Sakura?" Yasu grunted barely missing a head-butt to his chin. He managed to spot the rope and towels in her hands. "Sakura!!" She began to panic, her eyes widened in fear at seeing her little boy being treated like a vicious wild animal. She slowly starts to back away. "What are you doing? Hand them over now!!!"

"Bu, . . .but. I don't want to hurt him anymore." She whimpered as her body trembled against the wooden cabinet. "My baby, my poor, poor baby!" Her fingers bunched into her hair while she began to cry.

"SAKURA!!!" Yuugi's mother immediately flinches at the sound of her husbands voice. Slowly she forces herself to look into his eyes.

"You want to get Yuugi better right?" Yasu grunted as he thankfully missed yet another head-butt to his cheek. "Than help us by handing over the ropes." She shook her head, trying to plead with her eyes, but the stern looks that both man gave her, forced her to do what she didn't want to. With their combined effort, all three adults manage to restrain Yuugi as quickly as possible.

Sugoroku sighed heavily in relief. "I'll go and start the car." He called as he made his way downstairs; while Yasu and Sakura struggled to haul Yuugi to the car with the teen kicking and fighting along the way. Yasu managed to open the backdoor to place Yuugi securely in the back seat with himself and grandpa while Sakura drove. "So, we're headed to Doctor Taylor's office?" Sugoroku asked as his daughter-in-law sped down the back roads.

Sakura shook her head. "No, the nurse said that they wouldn't be able to help him there." She closed her eyes for a bit trying to calm her nerves. "All I know is that when we get to Archers Lane, I have to make a right."

* * *

Corner of South Wind Parkway and Burlington Street

* * *

The air was very still this cold, frigid morning as Ryou briskly made is way to the train station earlier than usual, in hopes to seeing his best friend on the way to school. To be honest, he hasn't seen him for a least a good week and it was starting to worry him. This was completely unlike Yuugi. He never missed class unless he was sick and even then it was a little over a few days.

Closing his coat flaps tighter against his throat, he hurried down the stairs with this gnawing feeling that something was wrong, but he just couldn't put his finger on it. As he walked further down, he noticed that the underground platform was filling fast with the morning rush hour traffic. There were times where he thought he saw Yuugi only to find out that it wasn't him at all. "Where could he be?" He muttered clutching his book bag handle tightly. "I wonder if he's still mad at me?" The white haired teen's voice cracked as his mind began envisioning the worst that might have happened. "What, . . . What if he's really sick or worse yet, ill?" He clutched his chest as his heart began to hurt badly. If something were to happen to Yuugi - The door of the train opened and the crowd began spilling into it.

I have to go see him.

With every ounce of strength that he could muster, Ryou tried to force himself out of the rapidly packing train. "I'm getting off! Let me off!!" He cried practically shoving his way forcefully through the tightly packed crowd as someone dashed past him knocking him off balance back onto the train.

"Sorry about that."

Ryou's eyes widened as big as saucers. "Yuugi?!" He breathed. Out of the corner of his right eye he caught a glimpse of red, purple and gold moving to the next car. "WAIT!!" Ryou cried frantically trying his best to follow him.

Car after car, Ryou tried to catch up, but no matter how many times he yelled for him to wait, Yuugi would simply ignore him and act like Ryou wasn't even there. Finally he made it to the sliding doors that lead to the last car, "Yuug-"

"What the fuck ya want?" The other younger teen demanded glaring crossly at Ryou. "You have a problem or something?"

Standing there on the tiny ramp that connected the two cars together, Ryou could only manage to squeak out "Yuugi," . . .or at least that was what he thought was Yuugi.

"Do I look like a fucking 'Yuugi' to you?!" The other teen demanded darkly crossing his arms over his chest. Ryou quickly shook his head. "Well then, get lost and leave me the fuck alone!" The white haired teen stood there dumbfounded as the other teen yanked the door open to the final car, continuously glaring and cussing at him as he found a place to sit.

" What the hell just happened?" Ryou asked backing himself into the car that he came from. He forced himself as far way from the other teen as possible. "Yuugi, where are you?" He took an available overhead ring handle and clutched onto it till his knuckles turned completely white. He closed his eyes, trying to will his rapidly beating heart to slow to a more normal pace while his legs had given out.

_Please do not let this day get any worse.  
_

* * *

St. Joan Da Arc Court Yard

* * *

"Hey, did you hear?"

"Hear what?"

"What do you mean what? The talk has been major news all over the court yard."

"Oh you mean about Mutou?"

Ryou's ears perked up for the first time since he dragged himself past the heavy, iron gothic gates. He looked for the source only to find a small group of girls looking back at him then quickly ran away after they realized that they were caught staring. He wanted to call out to them, to ask more about Yuugi but stopped himself. All around him, everyone was looking at him with mixtures of both curiosity and fright, and the more he would look to someone to tell him about the rumors that are spreading, the more they would back away from him. "Hey, . . .WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON AROUND HERE?!" Ryou finally yelled at his wits end.

He felt someone yank on his arm and pull him roughly towards the direction of the school. "Otogi, . . ." Ryou managed to gasp once he realized who it was that was pulling him so roughly. "What's going on? Why was everyo-"

"I take it you haven't seen nor heard from Yuugi either." Otogi said softly enough for only the two of them to hear. He checked around the room to make sure no one was there before entering. "Let's just put it like this, a lot of things have happened to the Mutou household that have caused a lot of nasty rumors to spread."

Ryou's eyes widened. "What kind of rumors?" When Otogi shook his head and shrugged his shoulders, the white haired teen feared for the worst. "What happened to Yuugi?"

"Again, I have absolutely no freaking clue. No one's talking and the ones that are talking are keeping it between themselves." He then looked Ryou square in the eye. "I was hoping that you would be able to tell me."

Ryou again shook his head. "I haven't heard from him since last week. I'm really worried Otogi. I've called his house but no one's home and even if I can catch them they aren't saying anything either." He slumps further into the chair. "I wonder what could have happened? Do you think that he's ill?"

The tall brunette sighs heavily shaking his head. "I hope not."

"You want to know what I think." Both Ryou and Otogi looked back towards the entrance to see another student leering back at them while leaning lazily against the once locked wood and iron door. "I think you know perfectly well what happened to him, Ryou."

"Insector Haga." Otogi growled out angrily. The damn worm doesn't know when to quit messing where he isn't wanted. "Just what exactly are you getting at? You trying to say that Ryou did something to Yuugi?"

The short green haired teen simply cackled. "Isn't it obvious? Everything points directly at albino boy in the dress." His smile grew wider while his eyes narrowed with a slightly dark glint. "There is no one else that fit's the crime besides him."

It all began to make sense now; the disgusted looks on everyone's faces, the fear that coursed through their eyes at the sight of Ryou, Haga's accusations . . .they were all accusing him of- "You actually think that I would . . .hurt Yuugi . . .don't you?"

Haga snickered, pushing his glasses up his nose. "You were the last student to be seen with him before his disappearance." Ryou gasped covering his mouth in shock. "It looks like my sources where right. In fact there's a rumor going around that you two had a vicious argument th-"

"Even if we did, I would never, and I mean EVER hurt Yuugi!!" Ryou yelled. He clutched his head in agony. "Why is this happening?" He whimpered as tears began to form in his eyes. He was so angry that he couldn't see straight.

"I really have no idea on what game you're trying to pull Haga," Otogi growled yanking the shorter elite member by the collar, "but trust me, it's not going to work."

The green haired teen continued to look at Otogi with a slightly miffed expression on his face before pompously slapping his senior's hand away from him. "Know your place." He said evenly between clinched teeth as he smoothed the various minor wrinkles from his collar. "I have just as much right to know the trust as everyone else . . .isn't that right Ryou?" He called over his shoulder. "Why won't you enlighten us on what _really_ happened that day?" Ryou looked at Haga as if he were crazy. Still trying to play coy I take it? "Fine then, have it your way. Either you talk willingly or I'll just have to find interesting ways to _make_ you."

Both Otogi and Ryou balked, both knowing full well that Haga meant business. "I, . . . I have to find Yuugi." Ryou blurted quickly dashing out of the room. He couldn't take it anymore. The look that Haga just gave him was enough to give him nightmares for years. He wanted nothing more than to get away from the worm as much as humanly possible; the sooner the better.

"We're not running away are we?" Haga called after the slamming door. Smiling to himself, the green haired teen pushed his metal bug shaped glasses back up the ridge of his pointy nose. Well then, this could get really interesting. He couldn't help the chuckle that was rumbling from the pit of his stomach. Instinct immediately told him that pursuit was the next thing for his investigation, however, his senior thought differently.

"Not so fast Haga." Otogi yanked on the closest arm that he could reach, pulling them back into the room. "I've heard a lot of interesting things about you." Haga arched his eyebrow and tilted his head to the side showing mock intrigue. "Your interest in bugs and your wannabe detective sleuthing, . . . normally no one would give a rats ass what you did, but this time," The dark brunette's eyes flared in anger twitching every now and again. "This time, you've gone way too fucking far."

Haga closed his eyes and chuckled deep within his throat. "What's wrong Otogi? To close for comfort?"

The last bit of reason that Otogi had was quickly banished as he slammed the younger teen hard against the door. "I am warning you Haga, leave Ryou alone or else." He growled yanking Haga off the floor by the collar in hopes of finding a way to get that sickening placid look off of that repulsive face.

"Awww. How sweet. " Braising himself against the door for added leverage, Haga raised his foot enough to kick the other teen off of him, making him crash into the desks behind him. "So sweet, it'll give me tooth decay." Looking down on his senior in satisfaction, he leaves the room laughing loudly to himself with Otogi sprawled haphazardly on the floor.

* * *

The halls of St. Janne Da Arc were unusually quieter than usual. In fact, what was most unusual was the fact that they were mostly empty. The massive bells for the clock tower have yet to toll and there was barely a person in site. This fact alone started to make Ryou uneasy as he ran full speed down the cold stone floored hall that was lined with massive rose windows. Almost missing his stop he slid almost slamming flush against the stone wall. He yanked open the door and called out, "Yuugi!" All the students that were in the room looked up at him in alarm. "Has anyone seen Yuugi?" All of the other people in the room stare at him blankly shaking their heads. Ryou's heart sank. "I see, he's not here either, . . . Okay thanks anyway." He muttered before continuing his desperate search.

A female student enters the room still looking at the retreating figure running down the hall. "Hey, wasn't that Bakura just now?" The group of students look at each other uneasily then back at girl who they now realize was Tea before nodding their heads in unison.

Tea leaned against the door frame grinning to herself while she continued to stare down the hall. "Makes you wonder doesn't it." The group of students look up at her expectantly. "So, just how much truth do you think is behind all of those nasty rumors? She drawled with her eyes shining with mischief as she plopped down in her seat. "You want to know?" Everyone crowded around her asking her all at once about what she knew. At first she played indifferent, but after a while she couldn't help herself. "Alright, listen up and listen well for I will only tell this once."

* * *

Still not having much luck in finding Yuugi, Ryou franticly continued his desperate search around the school; however, everywhere he searched had turned into one dead end after another and it was really starting to get the best of him. There was no other place that he could think to find him besides the music room. And if that failed then he would leave school and go to Yuugi's house demanding to see him. With that in mind he made his way past the central stairs when he saw a large crowd gathered staring at something with horror stricken faces. Blood started to slowly turn cold and drain away from Ryou's body as he was finally able to see the full image on the gigantic billboard. On it, was a massively blown up image of Yuugi sitting on a white bed in a white padded room, with his eyes dug out , a spoon stuck in his throat with writing on the wall behind him that read:

This is penance for Zelig's death. May his vengeful soul not rest until the debt has been paid.

_:oBis zum nächsten Mal (Until Next Time)o:_


End file.
